Doisy case suffers another delay

COLUMBIA — Boone County prosecutors again asked for more time to build their case against Johnny Wright, the 65-year-old man accused of killing Becky Doisy in 1976.

In a minute-long hearing at the Boone County Courthouse, Associate Circuit Judge Christine Carpenter set Johnny Wright's next court date for March 8. Wright made the nearly 700-mile trek from Lawrenceville, Ga., for the second time since posting a $10,000 cash bond on Nov. 6, 2009. He appeared with his attorney, Cleveland Tyson of St. Louis.

Assistant prosecuting attorney Cecily Daller said the investigation was ongoing and declined to comment on whether prosecutors would convene a grand jury to indict Wright. In an earlier interview with the Missourian, Assistant Prosecutor Richard Hicks said that the evidence against Wright is the same as it was in 1985 — when Wright was first charged with second-degree murder — if not weaker, since so much time has passed.

Wright was the last person seen with Doisy, 22, before her disappearance in 1976. It isn't clear that there is any physical evidence Doisy was murdered because her body was never found. The prosecution’s key witness, Harry Moore, told police that he saw Doisy's body in Wright's car, but his admission came after he had been charged in connection with the crime nine years after Doisy's disappearance.

Wright was arrested in Lawrenceville, Ga., in September 2009 after a background check for a job. Tyson previously said Wright had spent most of the last two decades living in Georgia, working blue-collar jobs and raising a family.